De-Identification and reidentification

Feb 06 2017

When TVs watch you: What we learned from the FTC’s VIZIO case

Television maker VIZIO is paying $2.2 million in penalties to settle charges after the FTC and the New Jersey Attorney General’s office brought a complaint against the company for violating its customers’ privacy. The complaint against VIZIO stated that the company collected detailed information on millions of its customers TV viewing habits without their express consent, and that VIZIO facilitated something called “data appending,” which is when even more detailed information is added to existing customer profiles.

Nov 02 2015

WPF to testify before Congress on data broker security

WPF Executive Director Pam Dixon will testify before the Senate Judiciary this Tuesday, Nov. 3. The hearing is on data broker security, with Chairman Flake presiding. Hearing details: Data Brokers – Is Consumers’ Information Secure? Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law Date: Tuesday, November 3, 2015 Time: 2:30 pm Location: Dirksen Senate Office Building 226 Presiding: Chairman Flake

Jun 22 2015

WPF files comments on wellness programs and privacy: urges EEOC to address privacy challenges

The World Privacy Forum filed comments with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission about wellness programs and related privacy impacts to individuals. Many Americans now take part in employer wellness programs, and they are increasingly and justifiably concerned about the sensitive information these programs are gathering, sometimes in return for incentives such as discounts on pricing for health insurance. These comments to the EEOC address some of the most significant challenges individuals face, including voluntariness, fairness, due process, and information sharing outside of HIPAA.

May 13 2015

Public comments: WPF encourages NIST to refine report on de-identification of personally identifiable information

The World Privacy Forum submitted comments today to the National Institute of Standards and Technology in response to its publication, Draft Report on De-Identification of Personally Identifiable Information (NISTIR 8053). The WPF welcomes the draft NIST report, as the area of de-identification and re-identification of personal data swirls with controversy and confusion. We see considerable value

Aug 08 2014

WPF Comments about Privacy and Big Data: Ethical Framework and Rights Essential

The World Privacy Forum filed comments with the U.S. Department of Commerce in response to its Request for Comments about big data, privacy, and the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights. The White House Big Data report recognized that Big Data “raises considerable questions about how our framework for privacy protection applies in a big data ecosystem” and has the potential to “eclipse longstanding civil rights protections in how personal information is used in housing, credit, employment, health, education, and the marketplace.” This is among our concerns as well, and our comments focused on understanding big data’s benefits while drawing attention to where there are significant privacy risks that need to be addressed.

National IDs Around the World — Interactive map

About this Data Visualization: This interactive map displays the presence...
Report: From the Filing Cabinet to the Cloud: Updating the Privacy Act of 1974

This comprehensive report and proposed bill text is focused on the Privacy Act of 1974, an important and early Federal privacy law that applies to the government sector and some contractors. The Privacy Act was written for the 1970s information era -- an era that was characterized by the use of mainframe computers and filing cabinets. Today's digital information era looks much different than the '70s: smart phones are smarter than the old mainframes, and documents are now routinely digitized and stored and perhaps even analyzed in the cloud, among many other changes. The report focuses on why the Privacy Act needs an update that will bring it into this century, and how that could look and work. This work was written by Robert Gellman, and informed by a two-year multi-stakeholder process.
COVID-19 and HIPAA: HHS’s Troubled Approach to Waiving Privacy and Security Rules for the Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic strained the U.S. health ecosystem in numerous ways, including putting pressure on the HIPAA privacy and security rules. The Department of Health and Human Services adjusted the privacy and security rules for the pandemic through the use of statutory and administrative HIPAA waivers. While some of the adjustments are appropriate for the emergency circumstances, there are also some meaningful and potentially unwelcome privacy and security consequences. At an appropriate time, the use of HIPAA waivers as a response to health care emergencies needs a thorough review. This report sets out the facts, identifies the issues, and proposes a roadmap for change.